Southwest Rapid Rewards - Website issues

Anyone else having trouble booking flights online? I have been trying for the past hour and keep getting a "site is under maintenance" error message.

same issues here

Check their FB status for more information.

Check their FB status for more information.

Got it, thanks for the tip!

Wife is trying to add a companion for her CP status just achieved and we're receiving the "OOPS" error on submission of the information.

Hoping this is just due to their website issues.

Wife is trying to add a companion for her CP status just achieved and we're receiving the "OOPS" error on submission of the information.

Hoping this is just due to their website issues.

Be sure you have already registered your companion first....and this takes a while for WN to process, too.

Be sure you have already registered your companion first....and this takes a while for WN to process, too.

I just logged on and now the companion is active. Wondering if the original submission did go through, but the error page was thrown erroneously?

Looks like the booking portion of the website is down again.

Cant make reservations....

OOPS! An error has occurred. Please visit southwest.com or southwest.com booking for more help.

If this issue persists, please call 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792).

Reference code: 999999999

I love how the error message tells you that, for more help, you should do what you're already doing, which is causing the error message.

Having issues even getting to the website today as well. :td:

Having issues even getting to the website today as well. :td:

+1

At the risk of jinxing it... it looks like it's back up.

Just finished booking 8 reservations. Site is very slow. 3.5 seconds for a date drop-down box to activate. Same with the contact selection (and, why do I STILL have to fill in my preferred method of contact over-and-over again??).

Two "oops" messages. One timeout. Run of the mill for Southwest.:mad:

Really bad. Mine requied a 5 minute pause between purchases in order to work.

What's really sad is that they can't empower the telephone agents to sell you the web only fares when the website isn't working.

Really bad. Mine requied a 5 minute pause between purchases in order to work.

What's really sad is that they can't empower the telephone agents to sell you the web only fares when the website isn't working.

What's really sad is that they refuse to fix their website.

It is an abomination. A 3rd world effort.

When I was doing the bookings today, I noticed that it was the graphics for ads which were slowing the whole thing down.

Here's a Herb hint, from a retired manager of a very large organization---> when your booking site (the thing that brings you **revenue**) is slow or broken, order your DP section to suspend all the inconsequential ads and fluff. Just go for the immediate money.

After all, NOBODY is going to endure your crappy website to book a car or a hotel or a cruise when they are suffering to buy your primary product.

Jeeze. It really is that simple.

It appears as though the booking portion of the site is down again. What's the point of a one day sale if you can't make a reservation?

oops all morning! ugh

Going through the Southwest app is no better. Finally after letting it sit for 5 minutes, the outbound fares appeared.

Informing the shareholders is the only way the website would ever get fixed. I'd like to know how much business they're losing.

I just don’t understand this. I am in IT solution delivery and if my customer’s public facing portals were down or not functioning, we would scramble to find the issue and make sure it never happens again. With this website, it just seems like an issue creeps in every few months and no one at WN seems to ever be embarrassed by it. Perhaps updating the website with a note and shutting down the booking portions would be a first step. A note at the very least keeps me from clicking the buttons over and over thinking the issue is on my side. I guess that is asking too much though.

This is ludicrous.

You run a 35% off sale and then you have a website that keeps giving me an "Ooops" message.

For as long as I have been on FT, the WN website has been an issue. They keep "fixing" it with spit and Band-Aids.

My company had an IT team that did that sort of thing and, finally, someone had the guts to drop the hammer and clean house. We got a new team in that fixed the issues and outside of a minor occasional glitch that is easily remedied, the website has been smooth as silk.

Why does WN continue to ignore this problem?

It took me half an hour, but i finally managed to book a flight for my boss.

going on 3 hours of not getting through...thanks SW, you just made SPG's website this week look like a modern marvel.

Still hit and miss...mostly miss. OOPS! is right!

going on 3 hours of not getting through...thanks SW, you just made SPG's website this week look like a modern marvel.

LOL. Both websites are bad (SPG's is impossible to navigate) but Southwest's is just ridiculous today.

Can't imagine how much revenue they're losing because of this. I would bet the revenue lost from this problem is much more than the amount it would have been to prevent it. That's the direct fault of their CIO, although they did just get a new CIO, so maybe that will change soon.

On Facebook, Southwest just deleted their post from this morning announcing today's fare sale, after it filled up with hundreds of "why is your website down?" posts. They then posted the following:

We are experiencing technical difficulties with Southwest.com today. We are working on a solution and hope to be running at full speed soon! Sorry for the inconvenience!

<rolls eyes>

Yup. Seriously exasperating!

Very exasperating at 11:35 PT. I just got back from a very enjoyable trip on Southwest and, silly me, I wanted to book another one this morning. They really do need to improve their site or at least double their server capacity when they announce a sale.

LUV WN, H8 WN.COM.

On Facebook, Southwest just deleted their post from this morning announcing today's fare sale, after it filled up with hundreds of "why is your website down?" posts. They then posted the following:

<rolls eyes>

I noticed that too. I think it would do wonders for their image if they actually fessed up to their problems and outlined the steps they were taking to resolve all the problems they are having.

At the risk of jinxing it... it looks like it's back up.

JINX, buy me a coke!

Too funny. They posted the apology about an hour ago, when the problem has been going on for at least 8 hours. Way to be on top of things.

Then when I finally get through, the rates (at least the ones I might want) are all for premium days anyway, with high rates. The promo code brought it down to their normal rates...

So, if you were already traveling on those few dates, you might save a little, but it sure wouldnt entice me to book an additional trip....

So, if you were already traveling on those few dates, you might save a little, but it sure wouldnt entice me to book an additional trip....

Definitely YMMV. I booked a 1400+ mile flight for my wife that works out to $69.35 old-style base fare (there is a connection, so AI is $90.95). There was a brief period several years ago when that route was offered at $79; that makes $69.35 a screaming bargain. For several days she was looking at burning an Award to fly June 4; we're delighted to fly one day later and pay that fare instead.

I'm also seeing quotes on an 1,100 mile flight come in as low as $82, again on a connection, so $60-ish old-style base fare, and again $79 used to be a bargain.

I still can't see anything, mobile or computer.

The one time I actually need to book a flight on Southwest and I have not been able to pull up any fares all day.

Continually get:

An error has occurred. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. If you are unable to complete your booking at this time, please try again later.
Reference code: 999999999

May have to try to convince our employee to take Frontier out of SFO instead of WN out of OAK.

Definitely YMMV. I booked a 1400+ mile flight for my wife that works out to $69.35 old-style base fare (there is a connection, so AI is $90.95). There was a brief period several years ago when that route was offered at $79; that makes $69.35 a screaming bargain. For several days she was looking at burning an Award to fly June 4; we're delighted to fly one day later and pay that fare instead.

I'm also seeing quotes on an 1,100 mile flight come in as low as $82, again on a connection, so $60-ish old-style base fare, and again $79 used to be a bargain.

You are doing much better than me. I was only able to check 1 city pair for all dates before giving up with the time outs, and oops.

I do not ussally travel Southwest but have been trying to book all day today and keeping getting the OOPPSS message, I guess I will have to book on US Airways or Delta.

I was just able to cancel and rebook my flight that happened to fall on these qualifying days.

Might be worth trying again!

more than FIVE HOURS since they first posted their "we're having technical difficulties" message on Facebook, and the website is still broken, and no updates posted to FB or their blog. How disgustingly unprofessional and immature. I can't believe anyone in their IT department still has a job.

more than FIVE HOURS since they first posted their "we're having technical difficulties" message on Facebook, and the website is still broken, and no updates posted to FB or their blog. How disgustingly unprofessional and immature. I can't believe anyone in their IT department still has a job.

Totally agree. It's like their philosophy is to ignore the problem and hopefully people will forget and move on (to another airline).

Update: If I click on the "Book Now" link in the big 35% off sale banner on the main page, it takes me to an Exclusive Hotel Offer of 150 points per hotel.

Southwest's IT is an absolute joke.

I had to cancel two RT's of 4 OW's and change them to an open jaw of 3 OW's. In addition, I had to cancel and rebook all of the associated CP bookings. I was using old RR credits as possible, so I had to price credits to check availability and log out each time as it would not let me switch to cash from RR 1.0 rewards.

Furthermore, and not WN's problem, I had to change the rental car and hotel for both trips. It actually helped. I would start the WN search, go to Hilton or Hyatt and change a reservation and come back and check the progress on WN. Then I would head over to National or Enterprise and work there. By going back and forth and logging off 8-10 times, I finally finished the process. It only took about three hours.:p

Well I was finally able to get through. Someone's working overtime over there! ;)

Well I was finally able to get through. Someone's working overtime over there! ;)

Ah, so I guess the problem wasn't being ignored after all.

According to web traffic statistics I've examined in the past, southwest.com is most heavily used by women at work. Can't say how reliable those numbers are, but they are plausible (think clerks and travel department staff booking flights for co-workers or bosses). As 5 PM (or so) passes in the various time zones, southwest.com traffic should tend to drop significantly. Unsurprisingly, therefore, I've found the site to be running pretty smoothly the past couple hours.

Finally was able to get in and cancel/rebook my flights for this weekend.

I was using old RR credits as possible, so I had to price credits to check availability and log out each time as it would not let me switch to cash from RR 1.0 rewards.

It is not necessary to log out to switch between Awards and paid booking searches. There are several ways to work around the web site's clumsiness in this regard. For example, if you need to switch from an Award search to a fare search you can easily do so by going to the low fare calendar entry page (http://www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/lowFareFinderEntry) (fourth item on the Air drop down menu).

Totally agree. It's like their philosophy is to ignore the problem and hopefully people will forget and move on (to another airline).

Ah, so I guess the problem wasn't being ignored after all.

Nice 1st post. Are you by chance in the SWA IT Department??? :D

This quiet little corner of FlyerTalk does not condone rudeness toward anyone, especially toward new posters. Sure, RR 2.0 has turned us all into an ornery lot, but that doesn't mean we need to take it out on each other.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, AvGeek!

This quiet little corner of FlyerTalk does not condone rudeness toward anyone, especially toward new posters. Sure, RR 2.0 has turned us all into an ornery lot, but that doesn't mean we need to take it out on each other.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, AvGeek!

Didn't mean to come across as rude, it was meant in jest. ;)

I'll extend a welcome to AvGeek as well!

It is not necessary to log out to switch between Awards and paid booking searches. There are several ways to work around the web site's clumsiness in this regard. For example, if you need to switch from an Award search to a fare search you can easily do so by going to the low fare calendar entry page (http://www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/lowFareFinderEntry) (fourth item on the Air drop down menu).

Thanks for the work around. The problem I was having was not that I could not book a cash booking but that I was only half logged in. It would show me as logged in and part of my info would display. However, the details portion at the bottom for address etc. would be blank. Rather than fill this in, it was quicker to close the session, reload from the main page and start over. Every time I have gotten this behavior, there is no way to satisfy the booking engine and I get some error of some type. I have developed the habit of searching and booking RR 1.0 awards as needed and then restarting to book cash booking. I have not seen the same behavior with points awards.

Didn't mean to come across as rude, it was meant in jest. ;)

I'll extend a welcome to AvGeek as well!

Thanks for the welcome! Hook em! \m/

EDIT: as I have a few friends and an extended family member who work at Southwest now or have in the past, I can assure you that not one of them is a monkey as was suggested in another thread! ;)